Anger Management
by xartxisxaxbangx
Summary: There's a new transfer to Konoha, from Akatsuki High for Juvenile Deliquents. His name is Sabaku no Gaara, he has anger management issues, and he needs an aide. Who else but Hinata? What happens if, maybe, he falls in love with her? Rated T.
1. Sabaku no Gaara

**A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry if anyone was expecting me to update Déjà Vu, but I've stumbled across the dreaded **_**writers' block**_** as to how to continue it and link it, because I have another section already written out. So this is just another story I really couldn't get out of my head, and that I really had to post. Hope you all like it! **

**Disclaimer: **

**Gaara: You know you made me a lot worse in this story than I actually am. And a lot taller. **

**Me: Don't you like being tall? **

**Gaara: To be honest… yes. It's weird to have a short mass-murderer. I don't know why. It just is. **

**Me: Yay! Now disclaim or whatever it is I'm paying you to do already! **

**Gaara: Go screw yourself. **

**Me: That's it! I'm docking your wages! **

**Gaara: You're not paying me. And you don't own me either. **

**Me: Or anyone else in this story, unless an OC pops up, dattebayo! –whispering to Gaara– see, you did it! It wasn't so hard, right? **

**Gaara: If you don't feel like being eviscerated right now, you will run like hell. **

**Me: Oops. –runs like hell–**

xXxXx

Chapter One

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," a busty blonde with almond eyes muttered as she heaved a sigh. She sat up a little straighter and pushed the empty sake bottle behind a pile of textbooks while frowning at the vice-principal.

The principal of Konoha High was having a headache. A huge, screw-the-world-I-want-my-alcohol headache.

"Well, I did tell you to check his profile," Shizune said smugly. Tsunade glared at her brunette assistant and thought (for the fifty-second time that day) that if she weren't so infuriatingly efficient, she would have fired her a long time ago.

"Let me see," she demanded just because she could, and snatched the slim folder from Shizune's hands like a little kid having a tantrum. Shizune rolled her eyes and quickly scampered out of the office. She leaned against the wall and counted down slowly, knowing that Tsunade's eyes would flick straight to the problems section.

_Three. _

_Two. _

_One. _

On cue, the principal's loud voice could be heard through the flimsy wall. Flinching, she slapped her hands over her ears and silently pitied her other colleges still in the office. Especially that intern who wouldn't know the danger signals as well as the others.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE SCREWING WITH ME! _THAT'S _HIS PROBLEM? ANTISOCIAL FUCKING PERSONALITY DISORDER? AND THE CURE? _ANGER MANAGEMENT_? I'LL MANAGE HIS ANGER FOR HIM, THE LITTLE BASTARD!"

Shizune counted (again) to ten, hoping that Tsunade would've remembered what _her _aide told her. _Count to ten, take a deep breath and run through it again. _Then she crossed her fingers and her toes and debated the merits of crossing her hair as well, before opening the door slightly. "Tsunade-sama? Are you… are you alright now?"

Breathing heavily a little like a bull, Tsunade nodded and then smiled a smile that could have made the prime minister forget his next sentence.

The brunette frowned, remembering her weird mood swings. Really, Tsunade-sama was the one who needed an aide. Well, she did have one, but then she requested for danger money and was promptly fired on the grounds that Tsunade was perfectly fine now, thank you very much.

Speaking of aides…

"Shizune, how much do we have left in the school fund? Apparently, he doesn't come with an aide and we have to provide one."

Gulping, Shizune wondered if running out of the office right now and hiding in a safe, dark little corner till kingdom come would get her fired. It was a pity she left that Kevlar vest in her car, she really could have used it now. Or one of those plastic police shields they used to keep back the crowd. Of course, they weren't as effective as Kevlar vests.

She should know. She'd tried them both on the principal already.

"Spit it out! I can't imagine why money makes you tongue-tied."

_Here goes nothing_, she thought.

"Ah… w-well, we d-d-don't a-actually h-h-have the f-fu-funds f-for an a-aide," she mumbled and stuttered like one of her Health Ed students. Hinata was her name, right? Well, now she knew how the poor girl felt.

"Speak up!"

She was never, ever going to make Hinata stand in front of the class and read out embarrassing lines _ever again_.

"We don't h-have the f-funds f-for an aide!" Shizune almost cried and then cowered under a handy file, expecting an explosion. But what she got was a slightly confused look and a dumb-sounding 'huh' from the principal. "I don't get it – we had a fundraising right before school ended! Where did all the money go to?"

This was the clincher. If Shizune lived through Tsunade's reaction, she could live through the apocalypse.

"You kind of spent it on those bottles of sake," she whispered and then squeezed her eyes shut. She could see her life flash before her eyes and she knew death was coming for her.

"We could hold another fundraiser," Tsunade suggested almost calmly, admirably holding her anger in, even if the wood desk was splintering under her fists.

"We don't have the time, school's starting in a week," Shizune whispered again, eyes still shut. It was close now, and hungry for her.

_Crack. _

"Then we'll get one of the pupils to do it," Tsunade said through tight jaws, oblivious of the broken desk at her feet. "See to it, Shizune, I need some air."

She stepped out of the office, her feet causing not a few cracks on the ground, and Shizune could hear the blonde fumbling in her jacket for another bottle of sake. Then the vice-principal looked at the mess on the floor and knew she was lucky to be alive. "Hello, could you please come and look at the floor of our principal's office? It seems to have fractured," she breathed into the phone (miraculously still intact), slumped on the ground.

Picking up one of the files, she fanned herself with it feverishly and thanked Kami.

After she had tidied the office and stacked the paperwork into a huge tower at the side of the room, she looked at the file in her hand. It was the one Tsunade had been annoyed (understatement of the freaking year) about.

Name: Sabaku no Gaara

Siblings (already in Konoha): Sabaku no Temari; Sabaku no Kankuro

Age: 16

Previous school: Akatsuki High for Juvenile Delinquents

Reason for transfer: Fighting on school grounds; causing of physical trauma; causing of psychological trauma

Problem(s): APD (Antisocial Personality Disorder)

Special needs: Aide

God, if he had been even kicked out of AHJD, she didn't know how Konoha High was going to survive with him around.

xXxXx

"Hyuuga Hinata? Do you want to explain?" –raised eyebrow–

"Well, she's the sweetest girl I know…"

"He'd chew her up and spit her out in twenty seconds. Are you serious?"

"Firstly, she's female and less likely to pick a fight with him. Secondly, she's _Hinata _and less likely to pick a fight with him, unlike some other girls we both know."

"Who?"

"Does the name 'Sakura' ring a bell? Or 'Ino'?" –exasperated voice–

"Oh. Right, yes. And?"

"Third, I'm hoping she'll rub off on him."

"Keep the dream alive, because that's not going to happen."

"Fourth, she stutters, you know? And he's going to have to learn how to put up with stuff like that, and what better example than Hinata?" –determined to ignore previous sentence–

"You want him to learn by punching her face in? Because that's what I'll bet he'll do."

"Well, this will work out perfectly then. When has your losing streak ever been broken, huh, _legendary sucker_?"

"I told you not to call me that in school!" –pissed off–

"And I told you I didn't care! Now, will you please fill in this form?"

"I still think this is a bad idea."

"She's got that innocent-little-kid vibe, you know? Like, when you look at her, you just don't want to hurt her? I hope that'll work with Gaara. I mean, if he doesn't want to punch her face in, he won't, right?"

"So you think he'll punch her too!"

"What! No!" –senseless, incoherent protestations–

"Wait. How are we going to get her to agree? How are we going to get her _dad_ to agree? He'll never agree!"

"I happen to know Hinata's failing Health Ed." –sneaky look–

"…"

"Alright, so it was partly my fault for making her stand up in front of the whole class and read out the bit about unsafe sex. And how to unroll a condom. And –"

"I don't want to hear this. Just tell me what you plan on doing."

"Health Ed is compulsory, so she'll need to do something else for the extra credit. I mean, she can't exactly take remedial for Health Ed…"

"Whoever heard of Health Ed remedial?"

"No, I meant as in, she faints the moment she sees the word 'sex', 'sexual relationships', 'condom', hell, even the word 'intimacy'. Her dad obviously hasn't given her the talk yet."

"Again, I do not want to hear this."

"Yeah, so we'll make her an aide for extra credit. Her dad can't disagree, not unless he wants her to flunk out of high school."

"Do you know what you are under that efficient mask? A sadist."

"I –"

"But I like your way of thinking."

She signed her name onto the papers with a flourish and a huge, triumphant grin.

xXxXx

Hinata fidgeted in her seat, twisting the pleated ends of her school skirt nervously between her fingers. She didn't know why she'd been called up to the principal's office, and she really didn't want to think about it. God only knew what her dad would say when he found out.

But it was kind of hard not to think about it, because Tsunade-sama herself was smiling stupidly at her like she'd just consumed a bottle of vintage wine by herself.

"Hinata, do you know you've been failing Health Education?" Shizune asked with a sympathetic face, which immediately got her guard up. Teachers were never safe to be around when they were being sympathetic. Plus, the words 'Health Education' made her think of that fiasco where she'd fainted before the whole class.

Bobbing her head, she felt the blood rise to her cheeks and prayed Tsunade was too drunk to notice.

"Well, you know you have to pass it to pass high school, or at least do something for extra credit, right?" the spiky-haired vice-principal continued, still with that smile plastered on her face. Hinata tried not to push her index fingers together and instead buried them in her skirt.

She nodded again, wondering what this had to do with, well, anything.

"So, we've come up with the perfect assignment for you!"

This was not good.

xXxXx

A group of three people were lounging in their home.

Well, not really a group, because that word implied relative closeness. Although they were blood siblings, the elder two were in fear of their lives everyday, thanks to the youngest boy. And that sounded like an exaggeration, but when your baby brother's name was Sabaku no Gaara, it was beyond true.

A brown-haired boy with face-paint (makeup, as his sister referred to it) hunched over a table, fiddling with parts and pieces of what appeared to be a puppet.

A blonde girl with four ponytails was by the window, soaking up the sun and fanning herself alternately. She hated the summer, and the fact that school started after summer was the biggest mistake ever.

A redheaded, pale boy was cleaning out his nails with a penknife while his piercings flashed under the sunlight.

Hmm. Not quite the picture of a happy family.

_Thunk._

A flurry of letters dropped in through the slot on the door, paper white and methodically rectangular. Immediately, the blonde moved to get them, knowing that both her brothers hated disturbance. And even if she didn't, they'd just look pointedly at her with a face that said 'you're closer to the door'. So what if the window was further away from the door than the table and the couch?

"Junk, junk, junk, trash, bills, advertisements, junk, junk, more junk. What a waste of paper – oh, look. Hey, Gaara! It's from the school!"

She chucked it at her brother and quickly left the scene. The envelope hit his hair and he growled, before reaching up to take it. _Stupid Temari_. His hair was messy enough. He didn't need her help.

Slitting the letter open with the same penknife he was holding, his eyes flicked through it once. Twice.

A third time.

Another growl escaped his teeth and he balled up the paper, throwing it behind him carelessly as he rose from the couch and went right out of the door without a goodbye. It slammed behind him and Kankuro immediately bent to retrieve the paper ball.

_Addressed to Sabaku no Gaara _

Blah, blah, blah… what was this? He narrowed his eyes and squinted at the magic word.

"Temari, come look at this! Our baby bro needs an aide!"

"Damn! How much you want to bet he gets beaten up on the first day?"

Kankuro shook his head and pushed his puppet parts to the side of the table and then smoothed out the letter so that it lay flat on the wood. His finger pressed the side down, trying pointlessly to remove the wrinkles where the paper had crumpled against itself. Boy, Gaara sure could squash hard.

"It says here his aide is a girl… Some fool named Hyuuga Hinata. God, why would she sign up for this shit…?"

"Can you read, Kankuro? It says she's doing this for extra credit. I bet she's some preppy slut with a jock boyfriend. Or she's some loser who doesn't know how to… pass Health Ed? What the hell?"

"Guess what the best part is? He's not allowed to hit her. At all. Unless he wants to be transferred to some facility thing. And as much as Gaara is going to hate Konoha High, he's going to hate the Facility for Reforming Juvenile Delinquents even more. He knows that too."

"Oh my God. So he like, even slaps her, and he's out of here."

"And we have front row seats to this."

"I think I'm going to like senior year."

Before either of them could say anything else that could get them into trouble (they didn't know how Gaara knew they were badmouthing him. He just knew), the bell rung hesitantly, as if the person on the steps wasn't sure if he was in the right place.

"You get it, Kankuro," Temari said immediately, not wanting to deal with any door-to-door salesmen. She'd probably scream their ears deaf.

He rolled his eyes and yanked the door open.

"Damn…" he muttered, eyes never leaving the person standing before him. Temari's eyes were similarly occupied.

Enter their brother's aide, Hyuuga Hinata.

xXxXx

The first thing that came to Kankuro's mind was "Hell, she's hot".

The next thing that came to his mind was "I can't believe she's Gaara's aide. He gets all the girls".

Only after he felt a trickle of drool drip down his lip did he realize that he was still ogling her like crazy, and she was still standing nervously outside.

Normally, he didn't go for the sweet, innocent looking girls. They looked way too immature, or fake, or stupid. And he didn't like brats who pulled puppy-dog eyes to get whatever they wanted. He didn't like brats, period.

But Hyuuga Hinata was perfect. Hyuuga bloody Hinata had the limpid, guileless face of an angel, and the unbelievable body of a devil.

"Uh, come in?" he said, and he couldn't feel himself opening the door wider and ushering her in. He was floating. When she passed him, he could smell her lavender perfume (a scent he always thought was for old ladies but she made it smell… well, sexy) and he could feel a wisp of her long dark hair brush against his arm. Was it black or blue or purple? He felt that finding out the colour of her hair was the most important thing he ever had to do. It was one of life's great mysteries.

Thankfully, Temari still kept her wits about her and made the girl sit, got her a cup of tea and started apologizing for her brother's absence.

"O-oh, um, it's alright, I'm s-sorry for not calling b-before I came over…" Hinata whispered quietly, politely, as she sipped at her tea. Damn, she even got the whole stutter thing down perfectly.

"Are you here for Gaara?" Temari wondered, knowing full well she was. "Ah, um, yes. He's n-not in?"

"Nope," she answered, but slipping in a "so do you want us to find him for you?" casually.

Hinata's doe-wide, pearly eyes widened in horror and she quickly said that she didn't want to be a burden, but Temari brushed aside her protests and beckoned for Kankuro (still standing by the door) to show Hinata some of the places Gaara frequented.

"Try the den, maybe the club… Maybe he's at the playground," Temari rattled off.

Kankuro ignored her and walked out quickly; trying to subdue the raging hard-on he had gotten from seeing Hinata in her uniform (she'd rushed over from her meeting with the principal). That skirt should be illegal; it was short enough that if she bent over he would see everything…

_Don't go there! __This is your brother's aide you're thinking about!_

_Your brother's very hot aide… _

Shaking his head, he made for the gambling den Gaara sometimes went to, forgetting about her presence behind him, trailing him like a lost puppy. "K-Kankuro-san? Are you alright?" her soft voice spoke, startling him.

"Gah!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

He stopped mid-step, making her slightly stumble against him.

Breaking out into a deep belly laugh, Kankuro couldn't help but think they looked ridiculously stupid staring at each other's mortified expressions on the sidewalk. He would bet he looked the dumbest he'd ever looked (and that was saying something). This was also the best thing he'd ever done.

Although she started with looking at him questioningly, his laughter was terribly infectious and he soon had her giggling along, adding her bell-high voice to the noise.

"S-sorry, but you looked so funny I couldn't help it," Kankuro gasped as he doubled over, panting for breath.

"I b-bet you looked w-worse," Hinata giggled again and then continued laughing when he made a face of mock insult.

With the noise of their laughter hovering around them lightly, it was quite obvious neither of them were going to hear the redhead approaching them lazily. So both of them jumped and had near heart-attacks when the teenager said "Who's this?" to Kankuro, frowning mightily. It was a miracle he didn't have wrinkles.

"Oh! Gaara! Um, this is Hinata…your aide?" he ended with a question, knowing it was up to Gaara whether she could keep this post or not.

Frankly, both Kankuro and Hinata were expecting him to walk off, so that they could get back to their laugh-fest, and maybe sprain their diaphragms. After all, he didn't appear to show any interest in her.

It came as another heart-attack inducing surprise when he beckoned for Hinata to follow him.

**A/N: I know, I know, the ending was lame. R&R please! **


	2. Swings

**A/N: Hi guys! Hope this update isn't so late that you've all forgotten about me! Anyway, expect slightly later updates, because school next week is going to be crap, and I'm getting annoyed by this new story idea. Thanks to all my lovely, lovely reviewers: Lalamo, BlindWanderer, Number1Weirdo, .LLL, hinatafan711, Thankyou for the Chapter, kibagaaralover18, kai-itachi21 and Mayrasaur! This chapter is for you guys (I didn't miss anyone out, right?)! **

**And I realized my chapter one doesn't have a title. CRUDD. **

**Disclaimer: Please. My name isn't spelt M-A-S-A-S-H-I K-I-S-H-I-M-O-T-O. I think that's pretty obvious. I only own the plot :D **

**xXxXx**

Chapter Two – Swings

I stared (a little blankly, I'm afraid) at the redhead in front of us. Did I just see what I think I thought I saw?

He crooked his finger again, a lopsided smirk appearing on his face.

Oh God. Kill me now.

I can't do this I can't do this I can't do this –

_Get a grip on yourself, Hinata! Remember he's Kankuro's sibling. He can't be that bad. _I took a deep breath and a step forward, a greeting on the tip of my tongue. And then he turned his head a little and the sun caught the long row of piercings on his ears, and I caught my breath. _Gangster._

"H-Hyuuga H-H-Hinata," I managed to force out, at least, before I could freeze in my position forever.

I couldn't judge him because of his appearance. So many people took one look at my eyes and started treating me gently, as if I were blind, and I should be the one person who actually understands the age-old adage of not judging books by covers. But he just radiated… Well, 'evil' is a bit too melodramatic, but he definitely wasn't going to win any "model boy of the year" prizes.

Whispering a thanks and a good bye to Kankuro, I followed in Gaara's footsteps quietly, like an obedient shadow.

A while passed, and we were still silent. I was beginning to despair, because I really needed the extra credit, and it was so awkward I could taste it in the air. I could taste the failure too, and the pain I would receive at my father's hands if I screwed this up. My body's remembrance of his strikes shivered up my arms, and I hugged myself.

"W-well…" I started hesitantly, "Are you o-okay with me as y-your aide?"

We turned the corner, and I distantly realized we were going to the playground. I was too busy trying to figure why we would need to go the playground that I had completely forgotten about hearing his answer. Which was a good thing, because he ignored me.

The sun seemed to shine hotter than ever, and I was glad my skirt was short (for once).

Gaara continued to ignore my existence and instead sat himself down on one of the swings, looking downwards at the spongy ground. It was painted as a large circle of cheerful looking animals surrounding the playground equipment.

I sort of liked the look of the little bunny at the very edge of the playground. It looked lonely.

Clinking, the metal links of the swing swayed and Gaara balanced himself absently, as if he was so used to sitting here he'd forgotten they weren't proper seats.

"No."

His voice interrupted my musing, and as before, it startled me. He was 16, max, but he had the raspy, husky voice of a singer (or a chain-smoker, as the case might be). Frankly, his voice was the stereotyped mysterious-bad-boy kind. It was the total opposite of Naruto's optimistic, happy voice, and I wasn't sure which I preferred.

Wait.

I had a _crush _on Naruto. I just met Gaara today. Obviously, I prefer Naruto's voice. But…there was something.

"I don't need an aide," Gaara muttered, clarifying his sudden 'no'. He drew circles idly with his right foot, hands stuffed in his pockets. I stumbled over another sentence that was something along the lines of 'um…okay' and clumsily sat on the other swing. Why did he pick a playground? Sure, I'd spent some time here when I was a kid (before my father said it was inappropriate to run amok with members of the opposite sex), but really, why?

There was a slide, a set of monkey bars, a sandbox and so many others I couldn't count. Fondly remembering the first time I slid down the yellow plastic tube, I smiled, and then wiped it off my face when I remembered that father had dragged me off when he found me.

Now that had been humiliating.

A rustle of leather and a 'zip' sound woke me up (again! I needed to stop daydreaming) and I looked over only to see Gaara shucking off his ripped jacket, placing it onto the side of his swing. Immediately, a hot flush rose to my cheeks.

That tight sleeveless shirt of his didn't exactly hide anything, and I could practically count his abs from here…

_Oh my God shut up right now Hinata! Don't go there! _

When I finally managed to suppress the blush (it was just a jacket! It wasn't like he was stripping or anything! … Shoot. Now I'm getting dirty images), he just had to snort and say "It's just a jacket", like he knew exactly what I was thinking. I really hoped he didn't. One part of my mind was relieving the moment where he had pulled off his jacket vividly.

The sick, sick, sick, dirty part of my mind. Please, ignore it.

"S-so why did you b-bring me to the playground?" I made a supreme effort to suffocate dirty inner Hinata, stuff her into a bag, tie it up and fling it into the Pacific Ocean.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting an answer. Didn't antisocial personality disorder mean he didn't talk? Or didn't communicate? I wasn't sure. It's not like I was going to major in psychology, right? I was just here to help him manage his anger.

"I don't have any friends," he abruptly declared.

Seeing my stunned look, he just had to rub it in. "Antisocial personality disorder is not synonymous with mute. It just means I get pissed a lot." And that made everything crystal clear (that was meant to be sarcastic. And don't be all surprised. I do use sarcasm, just not out loud because stuttering kind of ruins the effect).

If that was all, couldn't he count to ten, take deep breaths, do yoga or something? Did it have to be a _disorder_?

_And was I that much of an open book, or was he psychic? _

That mind-reading thing was going to get old soon.

Okay, I should be doing my job as an aide now.

xXxXx

The poor girl looked like she was suffering an aneurysm. When I'd taken off my jacket, she'd blushed so hard I seriously considered breaking an egg over her forehead to see if it would fry. But then I remembered I didn't have any eggs. So I settled for telling her it was only a jacket, which just made her blush some more and made me wonder if she was thinking dirty things. You'd never think it to look at her.

She looked so clueless about life in general, and clueless not in a faked way. Like how some girls would pretend to be little angels and naïve things that didn't know what 'sex' meant. Those girls annoyed me.

They obviously weren't the purest people around.

But Hinata was weird, in that she didn't seem to be faking it. She honestly looked like she would faint in embarrassment if you mentioned anything sick before her.

The plus was that she also didn't seem to think me retarded for going to the playground. Not that I cared, or anything, but if I had brought anyone else here they would have given me a 'do you feel alright' look. And stupid, stupid Kankuro, laughing with her and walking with her. Wasn't she _Sabaku no Gaara's_ aide?

God.

I sounded like I was interested in her. Which I was _not_.

She stuttered something I didn't catch, and I don't know what made me do it, but I told her I didn't have any friends. And it was true. My 'friends' had been members of gangs, brothers in a life of border fights and switchblade slashes. We didn't make friends; we stuck together because if we didn't, we'd be eliminated.

Life was that simple.

Not for her, though. She wouldn't last an hour in the Akatsuki High for Juvenile Delinquents.

I supposed that was a good thing. Only the really tough girls made it out there, and tough girls were pointless. Thanks to my mom, I have a slight protective-hero complex. That sounded strange, but I much preferred girls who needed protecting and saving, as compared to girls who always told you 'I can do it myself, thank you very much' and then doing whatever it was better than you.

If that wasn't completely out of whack, I didn't know what was.

"Antisocial personality disorder is not synonymous with mute. It just means I get pissed a lot," I explained after she scrunched her eyebrows at me. My siblings would be so proud of me. This was the most I'd ever talked, and to a complete stranger.

"Oh, okay…"

She was obviously wondering if she should counsel me right now, or just keep her mouth shut. If it wasn't so entertaining to watch her mental struggle painted across her face, I would have advised her to shut up. Sucking in a breath, she opened her mouth to speak and I glared at her.

Her eyes widened comically (never knew I had that in my vocabulary, huh) and she snapped her mouth shut obediently. And then, not knowing what to do next, she started scuffling her feet on the ground to swing herself.

Up, swing. Down, push.

The ritual repeated, until I got so tired of seeing her swing and swing and never get anywhere, I stood up.

Stopping practically at the same second, she looked at me like she thought I was going to hit her. Please. Punching bags are there for a reason. Instead, I moved to stand behind her and pushed.

Getting the message, she swung upwards, and when she arced back I shoved her again, so that she went a little higher than before.

"Whee!"

…Did she just say 'whee'? I thought that only appeared in cartoons.

"Whee!"

Mm, apparently also in Hinata.

While I pondered, the swing went up, and gravity being what gravity was, dropped like a stone right on top of me. That hurt.

I stumbled backwards a few paces and then fell onto the sandy ground, feeling the little grains insinuate themselves into the crooks of my clothing. Damn. That was going to be a bitch to clean up. My stomach hurt like shit where she had rammed right into me, but at least Hinata had miraculously managed to stay on her swing.

Right now she quickly clambered off it and turned to look at me.

So much for being able to stay on the swing. She had taken all of three steps when she tripped (on sand? I ask you, who trips on sand?), clutched at the metal links, slipped and like that goddamn swing, fell right on top of me. And thanks to the ridiculous tricks life plays on us, she landed exactly where her swing had hit.

Ow.

Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she slightly opened one, only to see that a) she was further injuring me and b) we were close enough that if one of us leaned in another inch, we would end up kissing.

The only thing preventing her from smashing her face into mine was the strength of her arms, which were propped by my shoulders to support herself. And I don't think she was the kind who did pull-ups everyday, so if one of us didn't do something soon, Hinata was going to be my first kiss.

Well, if you count the time when one of my friends assaulted me and more or less violated me, my second kiss. I think she was drunk at that time.

xXxXx

His face was the length of her pinky away from hers. She could feel his breath fanning out on her cheeks, and the steady rise of his chest. Dirty inner Hinata mentally counted his abs from what she could feel from her position. Hinata could even see the sand in his hair.

In other words: They were in deep crap.

Sand tickled her arms, and her elbows trembled – she couldn't hold this position for much longer. And why didn't she think of rolling onto her side?

Well, when you're in a situation like that, the obvious solutions aren't all that obvious. Besides, she was too distracted by his face. His messy hair was a ridiculously bright red, and it was just a shade lighter than the tattoo on his forehead. It read 'love', and Hinata wondered why 'love' when he was a gangster. Gaara blinked slowly, the insomniac-black lines around his eyes crinkling.

His eyes were beautiful.

They were a light shade of changeable blue-green, and his pupils weren't very obvious, making it seem like his irises swallowed up his whole eye. They were the colours of childishness, a sweet blue-green, of a foaming, pissed-off sea, a rolling dark greenish blue, and of delicate forget-me-nots, a more blue sort of green. In a couple of seconds, Hinata had already seen three shades.

She wanted to spend forever just staring at them, and puzzling out exactly how many shades of colour his eyes held.

Well, that and why he didn't have eyebrows.

Those eyes were not parallel with who he was – a fighter, a gangster, and possibly a killer. His clothes were like him, ripped and frayed, pierced and leathery, but he didn't _look _like the above, not with the eyes that were staring at her right now.

"How long are you going to stay like that?"

"Oh!" Hinata squeaked, feeling his chest vibrate as he spoke, and her elbows wobbled dangerously. "Oh!" she said again, her voice unintentionally high in distress, and he – was he _laughing_ at her? His chest was shaking with suppressed laughter, and it made her shake too, since most of her weight was on his chest.

On his _injured_ chest!

"Oh!"

And with that, her abused elbows finally gave out.

**A/N: Oh god, I'm so sorry for ending like that. I really need to work on the endings, but I really, really, really couldn't resist stopping there. Apologies for the really short chapter too, I wanted to get this up ASAP. And I know this story is moving like a rheumatic snail, bear with me please! It'll pick up after chapter three (hopefully…). :| **


	3. Soap Opera

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm so so so so so sorry for the bloody late update… I tried to, you know, make it longer and more interesting. The story is kind of moving along **** Anyway, thanks for putting up with me (if you're still reading this) and expect HUGE Sakura bashing in this chapter, because I cannot stand her. Um, Sasuke is going to be a little OOC, because he needs to be totally in love with Hinata. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything. When the day comes that I own Naruto, fans all over the world will attempt to murder me ^^ **

**xXxXx**

Chapter Three – Soap Opera

Sabaku no Gaara was not happy.

Not.

Happy.

He was sitting on a pink plastic chair before a pink plastic table sheltered by a pink plastic umbrella, resting an elbow on a pink plastic coaster and listening to Hinata read off a pink plastic menu. Was the woman who decorated this place colour-freaking-blind?

All the pinkness was starting to get to him.

When he was almost about to rip the coaster off and stamp on it, and then overturn the table and stamp on that, Hinata finally finished looking through the (frilly pink. Of course it wasn't plastic) menu and passed it to Gaara.

"Excuse me!" she called, waving at the waitress. It wasn't really necessary; after all, she had been blatantly ogling Gaara for the past ten minutes they were there. He wondered if the only thing keeping her from rushing straight to their table and hovering for the whole time was the pissed look on his face. In that case, he'd just have to look more pissed to stop her from trying anything while she took their orders.

"Yes, how may I help you?" the pink plastic waitress in the too-short skirt and too-tight blouse cooed.

"Could we have one peach ice cream and one…?" Hinata trailed off, looking at Gaara.

"Chocolate chip," he said shortly.

No competition. Chocolate chip was the best thing ever invented, and he didn't care – the inventor should've won a Nobel Peace Prize. Sometimes, cookies (chocolate chip only) were the only things to calm him down. Weird, he knew, but that was life.

He didn't even know what chocolate chip ice cream tasted like. I bet it's all gooey and mushy, he thought. He'd never had the opportunity to try ice cream because a) did he look like an ice cream guy to you? and b) juvenile detention facilities didn't exactly hand them out with big happy smiles.

It was a (slightly dubious) perk of being transferred to a normal school, he supposed.

"One peach and one chocolate chip, Sakura-chan," Hinata said happily, completely oblivious to the fact that Sakura-chan only had eyes for Gaara.

"Anything else?" pinky said in what he supposed she thought was a sexy voice, while bending down in front of his face such that he could see her lacy pink bra. Gross. The nuance in her voice made it obvious that 'anything' covered literally anything. Gaara wanted to scream and run away from the scary pink girl.

"Oh, I don't think so. Gaara?" Hinata continued, still gloriously ignorant of the fact that to Sakura, Hinata rated a minus five hundred on her scale of importance right now.

An awkward silence fell across the group, because Gaara absolutely refused to talk to the girl.

Hinata laughed nervously, wondering what was happening that she wasn't noticing.

Ah, the joy of being naïve.

"I'll be back soon then!" Sakura smiled and flounced off, accidentally-on-purpose revealing her underwear. Dammit, this girl was worse than a flasher. Gaara put in head into his hands and didn't take them away until Hinata started asking him why he looked so emo.

xXxXx

"Hello?"

Gaara was doing the whole emo-kid thing again. Hinata thought he looked really cute like that, but she'd never tell him that.

"Gaara?"

Hinata wanted to wave her hand in front of his face and see if he blinked.

"Emo," she muttered.

"Am not," he muttered back, wondering what it would take for her to stop calling him that.

"You big emo," she said under her breath.

Okay, so she knew this was a little (just a teensy weensy bit) random, but with his lined eyes, tattoos, piercings and piss-off expression, it was not exactly difficult to picture him slitting his wrists and being all doomsday-death-destruction-I HOPE THE BLOODY APOCALYPSE KILLS THE WORLD-ish.

He leaned towards her and glared, as if he knew what she was thinking about.

Just as Hinata thought maybe he'd cut her throat, an angel descended from Heaven to save her.

xXxXx

"Sakuraaaaaaa!" a hyper blond squealed as he and his posse bounced into the little café. The waitress almost dropped the two cups of ice cream in her shock, and as it was, she quickly deposited them on a table and then lunged for the blue-eyed boy, starting to beat up him horribly.

Then she noticed the dark haired male slouching near the back, and the change in her personality was so sudden Gaara got whiplash.

"Ooh, Sasuke-kun! What brings you here?" she said cheerily, ignoring the rest of the crowd and the blond's whimpers. Fluttering her eyelashes, she flicked her bubblegum hair back and smiled at Sasuke as if she hadn't been punching someone else into the ground a few seconds ago. Basically, she went through the whole routine she'd just gone through with Gaara. Gods, this girl made being a whore an art.

The Uchiha turned his head away from her (privately wondering why the heck her hair was that colour – couldn't it be a little less eye-blinding?) and instead looked at Hinata.

"Hyuuga," Sasuke stated, nodding.

Hinata smiled childishly up at him, but she went back to looking at Naruto and thinking if she ought to ask him to sit down. Honestly, even if Uchiha Sasuke was one of the most sought-after teenagers in the freaking state, she still only had eyes for Naruto. It made one wonder if she was blind and deaf.

"Hey! Look! Ice cream!" the abovementioned boy said with a foxy grin that bared his canines and without further ado he started licking at it. Hinata's, to be precise.

Gaara looked incredulously at Sakura, wondering if she was going to just let him have Hinata's ice cream, but the pinky was too occupied in glaring at the bluenette. What on earth did Sasuke mean by talking to her? Didn't the little bitch know Sasuke was hers? Never mind if Sasuke had only spoken a grand total of ten words to her since ever.

Still hers.

"Peach! I love peach! But my favourite flavor is ramen ice cream!" Naruto continued happily, talking determinedly in exclamation points.

"You dobe. It's the Hyuuga's ice cream," Sasuke mumbled.

"A-ah, y-you can ha-have it, N-Naruto," Hinata stuttered and blushed, looking at her lap while her face heated up. She was speaking to him! Finally! She could do it, she could do it, she could –

"'Sides, there's no ramen flavored ice cream," a brunette boy with tattoos on his cheeks cut in. He smiled at Hinata (was it just him, or was Gaara seeing a lot of guys smile at Hinata today?) and pushed himself in between Gaara and Hinata.

"Hi Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji. What is e-everyone doing here?"

Well, apparently she didn't stutter in front of other people. Not much, anyway. Gaara didn't like the conclusion his mind had formed. No way could Hinata like the blond idiot loudmouth…

"Ino's at the flower shop and Tenten's at her dad's shop. We were planning on visiting everyone," Kiba said, before calling for Sakura to bring some ice cream over. She broke off from her staring-at-Sasuke-dreamily and coughed "Right away – they don't have dog food flavor by the way, mutt" and strutted back into the shop.

Gaara stretched out a hand and snagged his cup of ice cream that was slowly melting, ignored, on the table beside them.

Silently, he made a gesture of offering some to Hinata, who obviously was dying for some ice cream (Konoha summers sucked big time, but he was used to Suna, which was a hell of a lot worse) and she gratefully accepted. She spooned a little into her mouth and sucked on the pink plastic spoon softly like a little kid.

God.

Maybe it was the first time he'd seen a girl eat ice cream, so he wasn't very knowledgeable about it, but Hinata made it look so hot. For a girl who looked like an angel, she was way too tempting to actually be one.

Hm.

He should actually be glad it wasn't popsicles they were eating.

xXxXx

Hinata watched Gaara put the spoon in his mouth and –

Oh god. She'd already eaten from that spoon! Was it a… was it an indirect kiss?

Don't think about it.

Kiba's ice cream came, and Sakura coughed delicately behind him, something that sounded vaguely like "enjoy your dog food, mutt". Hinata never understood why she always called him that. It wasn't like Kiba really ate dog food, even if he did love dogs. Well, okay, so he tried it once and told her it wasn't bad. But Kiba ate anything, as long as it wasn't poisoned or decomposing. That was Kiba.

"Want some, Hinata?" he suggested, and she almost grinned. Leave it to him to make sure she didn't overheat.

Then again, Gaara had given her a taste of his too. Chocolate chip ice cream was pretty good, actually. She couldn't even tell what flavor Kiba had… "Thanks Kiba, but I think I'll pass," she said with a little smile dancing on her lips.

"Whatever," he shrugged, and she turned to look at Gaara digging into his ice cream.

Hinata heard Kiba telling Shino something like 'don't be so uptight. Try this' behind her, and then Shino replying "There's nothing left". She turned again, and sure enough, the cup was empty. It was like ice cream had never even been in it. "K-Kiba…!" she stuttered. Boy, he could eat.

"Mutt," Sakura coughed behind his back.

Although he hadn't been taking much notice of her, this time his fists balled up and he tensed. She smiled smugly, and started another fake cough, but he stood up and walked off.

Hinata had never even seen him properly angry before.

She looked at Gaara, asking permission to go after him, and he nodded, before she quickly left, following the retreating figure of Inuzuka Kiba. "Sakura that was a little mean of you!" Naruto said, but with the idol-worship still in his voice. That kind of ruined the effect. Shikamaru nodded sleepily, and his wide yawn almost covered the word that floated out of his mouth. Almost, but not quite. "Bitch."

Chouji nodded earnestly. Although he'd never disrespect a woman like that, he could honestly say Sakura didn't merit such respect. Even Shino agreed. Gaara noticed the collar of his jacket move, and he was pretty sure he saw him mouth "Bitch" in agreement.

"He deserved it," she said defiantly, and then looked at Sasuke as if she expected him to nod energetically and agree with her.

The black-haired boy was staring after Hinata.

Sakura had never wanted to slap Hyuuga Hinata as much as she did right then.

xXxXx

"See, before Sasuke transferred over, Sakura and Kiba were pretty close. But then when they were like ten, Sasuke appeared, and Sakura more or less defected camp. They used to be best friends. Kiba doesn't blame him; god knows if anyone here truly detests Sakura the whole time it's Sasuke." Shikamaru explained to Gaara, in between yawns and a part where he actually slumped forward and fell asleep.

Chouji got him awake soon by poking him kind of hard.

Gaara groaned. Konoha history was like a huge soap opera.

First we have the classic girl-and-boy-next-door situation. And then a new hot guy pops up, and girl-next-door jumps ship. And boy-next-door? Well, he's more or less left to fend for himself. Until gorgeous-angel-descended-from-heaven rescues him, of course. P.S. gorgeous angel is Hyuuga Hinata.

Really, he didn't think Sakura could stoop so low.

He had no idea.

xXxXx

Sasuke jumped up (elegantly. He was a Uchiha, after all) and muttered "I'm going after them" before leaving. Frantically, the pinkette tried to stop him, but he shook her arm off and stalked off.

Where would a pissed off dog boy go? And would Hinata be there?

Uh huh. You've probably all guessed by now; Sasuke has a crush on Hinata. He was only following them because Hinata was (maybe) with him. And then when she finished comforting Kiba, she'd likely need some comforting too, since no one could handle that much stress all the time. What with that antisocial guy she needed to babysit, and a best friend who had girl problems, well…

Not to mention a loner who was head over heels for her.

"Kiba, ignore what Sakura said…! She doesn't deserve your attention…" someone's voice drifted out from the other side of a shrub, and the Uchiha did what any normal person would do under the circumstances: he hid behind the bush, parted a few leaves and spied on them.

He was only doing it because he loved her. Not because he secretly wanted to know what Kiba would say to that.

Hinata was beside Kiba on a bench, and he was shaking. Anger? Sadness? Who could tell from this vantage point, anyway? Sasuke didn't really care. What he cared about then was that Kiba had an arm around her waist, and she was holding his hand sweetly. Or he was holding hers. Hard to tell.

"I used to like her, you know… And I wouldn't mind her being, you know, all in love with the Uchiha, but she didn't have to do that," he whispered.

A hoarse whisper is more or less an invitation for the comforter to pat him.

It was official: Next time Sasuke was upset, he was going to get Hinata to comfort him.

**A/N: Happy lunar new year to everyone out there who celebrates it! And happy lunar new year to everyone who doesn't! I swear, cross my heart, that the next chapter will be at least seven pages in word document. Expect it like, a year later. **

**R&R! And thank you guys all so much! **


	4. Fanatic

**A/N: Hi guys! Hope you like this chapter! **

**Just have something to say (other than the disclaimer that is): I hope you guys who had problems with Sakura being too shallow and unbelievable and 1D last chapter will keep in mind that that was her first chapter, and I didn't have the space to make her character very 3D in one chapter where she isn't even exactly important. **

**Sorry if I sound really angry, but I would have liked some time to develop her properly. I mean, it was the first chapter and all, and straightaway I get someone complaining that she's unbelievable? And I ask her how to make Sakura more believable, and she doesn't answer (I'm assuming it's a she, anyway). **

**Nothing against anyone else! Everyone else has been super supportive of this story, and I'm really grateful. Thanks to all my lovely, wonderful reviewers, and the people who added this story to their favourites/alerts! **

**Sorry for that super long author's note. **

**Disclaimer: I think it's pretty obvious I don't own Naruto. It would be named Hinata if I did. **

Chapter Four

The holidays had ended so quickly, in a blur of friends and siblings and most importantly, Hinata. For Gaara, it'd been nothing short of miraculous, how she actually seemed to want to hang around him (even if it was for school – he was trying not to think of that). After Yashamaru, she'd been the only person to accept him. And while she didn't exactly fully understand him yet, he was… content. Not happy (Gaara being happy? Please, be serious), but content. Satisfied.

So the first day of school wasn't as painful as it would have been under other circumstances.

Temari yelled up the stairs "Hurry up, lazy ass!" with her hands on her hips and a frowny face. Kankuro yelled in reply "Shut up, bitch!" but hurried anyway, before Gaara got annoyed by all the yelling going on.

She rolled her eyes and then pulled her ponytails tighter, with an air of preparing for war. Hitching up her already-beyond-short school skirt, she wiggled around until it was nudging the fine line between 'slightly indecent' and 'totally slutty'. Picking up her sling bag, she stepped out to wait for her siblings on the porch. Kankuro popped out of the house, hair in a mess and uniform crooked, but at least he was there.

Before they could leave, a sleek bluish black car pulled up beside the curb with a purr as the owner killed the engine.

Kankuro was practically drooling, but when Hinata stepped out (in the pathetically short school skirt. Really, this was getting ridiculous) he felt like he'd died and gone to heaven. First of all, the skirt rode up enough for him to see the edge of her white underwear. Secondly, she was walking to him.

"Temari-san, Kankuro-kun! Good morning!" she smiled cheerfully, and then looked past them. "Gaara-kun!" Hinata called with a wave.

"I thought you probably wouldn't want to sit in Neji's car… so is it okay if I walk to school with you?"

Neji stared daggers at the three siblings, making it obvious why anyone wouldn't want to sit in his car.

From behind them, Gaara nodded, pulled his bag up higher and walked past his siblings, shooting Kankuro a death glare. Obviously, he'd seen him swoon over Hinata's underwear. Oops.

"We'll be off then, see you two in school!" Hinata continued in her piping tone, before she followed after Gaara. She waved bye to Neji, who tried to call after her and ask her again to make sure she didn't want a ride. Who knows what could happen on her way to school? What if a rapist attacked her with a knife? What if she ran into a kidnapper?

He was maybe slightly reassured by Gaara's stolid presence next to her.

Then again, Gaara might be worse than a rapist or a kidnapper. God only knew what designs he had on Hinata-sama.

xXxXx

The pair walked slowly, because Hinata was a naturally sedate person and because Gaara didn't see a reason to hurry (and end his walk with his Hinata).

Neither of them felt the need to fill the empty silences, and they were comfortable with each other. That is, until Hinata mentioned that she'd packed a bento for the both of them because she wasn't sure if Gaara would like the cafeteria food.

"I'm sure the cafeteria ladies put a lot of effort into making it, but it isn't exactly… Well, it's not exactly edible… Most people go out to eat or pack their own lunches, and since it's your first day and going out probably isn't smart… Um…" she trailed off, realizing that she sounded like a mother hen who had a vendetta against lunch ladies.

"Um…" Hinata tried to continue, but her mind drew a blank.

_What do I say! I must seem like such an idiot now! _

Thankfully, Gaara answered that he didn't care much either way, and he was perfectly okay with a bento lunch. Of course he didn't mention that he liked the fact that Hinata had gotten up early to make him something. That would've sounded creepy.

"R-right! So…"

Hinata was painfully struck with the realization that it was a good thing she was a silent person. If she'd been talkative… She didn't even want to think about the messed-up sentences she'd spout.

"Tell me about school," Gaara prompted.

She nodded, the threatening blush slowly fading off her face, grateful that he'd provided a subject change. How nice of him.

"School is quite nice, you'll get to see everyone you met the past few weeks. They'll probably, um, give you a timetable like mine because I'm your aide – "

Gaara scowled. "Don't call yourself an aide. It makes me feel handicapped."

Nodding quickly again, Hinata wanted to slap herself for that mistake. His anger, usually so close to the surface, had been quite successfully repressed the last few days. How could she anger him so quickly on the first day of school?

On another note, she'd found out that if she said his name or maybe touched his hand when he was angry and mouthing off, he'd calm down fairly soon. Hinata found that strangely sweet. Although he'd told her that he didn't like physical contact because of personal issues he had yet to address, he seemed to be okay with her. That was encouraging.

"And well, let's see… Well, Konoha High has a lot of, um, cliques. There's one group of people, the ones you know, and then there are the seniors, and then there are the fan girls… Oh dear, I really shouldn't call them that but…"

Gaara looked at her. Did he look like he cared if she bad mouthed anyone?

"Who are the fangirls?" He didn't really want to know, but he did want to hear Hinata's voice.

"There's Karin, she likes Sasuke. Sakura likes Sasuke too, and um, Tayuya, who likes Shikamaru. Ino (you know, the girl who works at the flower shop?) also likes Sasuke. They're all presidents of their respective fan clubs… I think," Hinata frowned, unsure. After all, if he'd paid attention to her previous paragraph he would've realized that she had only mentioned two fanclubs. One of which was monopolized by three girls.

"Are you in a fan club?" He tested the word carefully, unfamiliar with it.

"No! I mean, um, no."

"Why not?"

"I don't like Sasuke or Shikamaru that way… I mean, they're both really good friends but…"

Gaara frowned.

The way she had ended that sentence – 'but…' It sounded like she was going to say something like 'but I like someone else'. Then again, what would he know about girls? Less than nothing. He didn't even know any (except his sister, and that girl back in Akatsuki High), so it made sense for him to know nothing about them.

Still, it was worrying. His Hinata liked someone else?

It made him want to go and beat the guy to a bloody pulp.

_Did you say 'your Hinata'? _

Gaara layered another frown on top of his present one. _Who is this. _

_I'm your conscience. You know, the one who – _

_Shut up. _He knew what was coming. And he didn't particularly want to hear it. God, what a great time for him to grow a conscience. Life was a nuisance.

"I d-don't know if I can tell you this," she admitted with a stutter. "But Gaara-kun is my good friend, a-and friends confide in each other… right?" Nodding, he decided that girls were weird. He had no idea what Hinata was talking about, but he'd just listen to her for now.

They stopped walking and he leaned against the gate enclosing the park.

She looked around, almost guiltily, and then tiptoed so that she could reach his ear (even if tiptoeing only let her reach the bottom of his jaw).

Looking down at her, Gaara thought that she was really quite adorable. And short. He bent a little so that she'd think that she had successfully reached his (pierced) ear. She giggled, as if humoring her was a really immature thing she didn't think Gaara would actually do. Which it was, but he wasn't telling her that. Hinata had the whole doe-eyed innocent face pat down, and it was something that made people not want to hurt her.

"Well…" she hesitated. And then she went on in a big rush "I sort of like someone else," which ended up in this really gabbled line that Gaara didn't hear a word of. He nodded slowly, as if he got it.

"You're not… You're not going to laugh at me?"

Her eyebrows were all scrunched up, as if she found it confusing that he wasn't splitting his sides rolling on the floor and laughing out loud. Gaara looked at her, bewildered. What could she have said that warranted his acting that way?

"I mean, y-you don't think it's weird that I have a c-crush? At my age?"

That came out a little clearer, because she was relaxing. Gaara-kun wasn't going to scoff at her after all! He really was a nice guy.

"Wait. What?"

xXxXx

Ahh, first day of school.

I get to see my Sasuke-kun again! Not that I don't see him a lot during the holidays, of course. I mean, he always comes to the ice-cream shop where I work, so I had plenty of opportunities to talk to him and all…

Y'know, I'm starting to think that maybe Sasuke-kun might have a teeny little crush on yours truly.

Not being egoistic or anything here, of course.

Just saying.

I mean, he does visit me often (although with a big bunch of friends; but I understand, it would look suspicious if he came alone, wouldn't it?) and sometimes he waves, or nods, or says 'hi' even! And duh, of course he talks to that Hyuuga girl a lot (what was her name again? Hanako? Hitomi? Whatever), but it's pretty obvious why!

She's his cover-up.

I mean, no one would actually like her. Sure, she's got really pale skin, and she's really skinny, and she's got an average figure, but she's just a wallflower. She's the kind who sits by the sides and smiles stupidly at everyone else having fun, because no one can actually remember who she is. Or they don't care, because face it, she's not exactly popular, is she?

Okay, so sure, she's got the hottest cousin ever and she's BFFs with that new guy in town, and she's good friends with practically all the guys who ever existed (which in itself is suspicious, if you ask me. I mean, who can be such good friends without having some benefits on the side? They're all so juicy looking).

But she's still nothing but a wallflower.

Unlike me, of course. I mean, I haven't got the best figure ever, but I plan on changing that soon, so that's one problem done with. And I'm a natural pinkette, which is the coolest thing ever! Who has naturally pink hair, huh?

And I'm like the only person I know with green eyes! You know, they all say that green-eyed people are special, pixies or fairies or something, and to be honest, I've always felt special in that way. All my friends say so.

So of course, it'd make more sense for Sasuke to use her as the cover up, and to actually prefer me.

Oh, I just had the greatest thought! We could be, like, Romeo and Juliet! Sasuke, of course, is Romeo, and I'm Juliet, and we'd meet outside and kiss secretly (I'm giggling like mad as I think this) in the garden and he'd declare his undying love for me and I'll giggle at him modestly and also very sweetly whisper "I… I love you too, Sasuke-kun" and he'll be so happy with me.

And that's because we were a match made in heaven. He is my one true love, and I am his.

And that is why I will not let anyone get in my way, not Kiba, not Ino, and especially not the washed-out, pale little bitch whose name is Hyuuga Hinata.

Just you watch. I'll show you all.

Sasuke is mine. He is mine.

_Mine._

xXxXx

The pair reached school, a little relieved because Gaara looked so dazed and because Hinata was worried he was going into shock. After she'd stammered out that she had a huge crush on Naruto, he had nodded and then just turned his head to the side and ignored her.

_Did I do something wrong?_

Before she had the chance to pluck up her courage and speak to the brooding redhead, Tenten yelled as she ran across the car park "What's up, Hina-chan?" She skidded to a stop, gigantic smile on her face as she mussed her (future sister-in-law) friend's hair up. "I haven't seen him around," nodding to Gaara, "can you introduce me?"

Glad for the diversion, Hinata nodded and said "Tenten, this is Gaara. Gaara, Tenten."

Before anyone could continue, a huge cloud of dust blew up as two cars pulled into the car park simultaneously. Hinata coughed and had to be pulled out of the way by Gaara to avoid being made into a little pancake. A luridly coloured pink car drove past her, with one pink-tinted window rolled down. From inside, she could see Sakura, sitting pretty in the driver's seat with a careless hand on the wheel, smile and flash her the peace sign.

Okay, so it was her fault for standing in the middle of the car park outside the school. But who gave the peace sign to someone they had narrowly escaped crushing?

She stood straight, shakily, and checked if Tenten was still in one piece. Yep, she was fine. Tenten had good reflexes. "Thank you, Gaara-kun," Hinata thanked, manners, if not dignity, still intact.

The bright red Ferrari behind Sakura's car parked next to her, and a girl got out. She had a cloth cap, and exceedingly long hair, and was dressed in the typical popular teenage female highschooler (wow, that was a mouthful) outfit. Or in other words, a short layered tank top and low-slung jean shorts. Note the use of the word 'short'.

"Tayuya, honey!" another girl, looking like the carbon copy of the first except that her red hair was shorter, squealed as she got out of Sakura's car.

"Karin-chan!" Tayuya squealed back, like an answering call from the pack leader of a herd.

"Karin, Tayuya!" Sakura finished off, after climbing out and running towards them to air-kiss and air-hug. She had on a sleeveless (pale pink this time, thank the god) shirt that exposed her midriff and a matching miniskirt strangely reminiscent of a cheerleader's skirt. The shiny rose silver spurs on her pink cowgirl boots (in style this season) clinked as she ran.

In the middle of the ruckus, Sasuke and Naruto slowly got out of the back of Sakura's car, Sasuke with an "I survived; it's a miracle" expression and Naruto with an "I was in Sakura's car! Sakura's car! Sakura's car!" expression.

Hinata's face fell (due to obvious reasons) and Gaara looked at her, slightly irritated (also for obvious reasons).

"Come on, girls," Sakura said, looping her arms through theirs. "Oh, and I gave Sasuke a ride to school today," she added, as if it was of no importance. The effect was immediate.

Karin threw her arm off with a scream and ran towards him (how could she have not noticed!). And although he tried to duck behind Naruto, it didn't really help. Gaara was a little amused. It _was_ the first time he'd seen Sasuke lose his cool like that, after all. And he never knew Sasuke could produce such sounds of absolute horror before. God, he screamed like a girl.

"Oh, Tayuya honey, look! Is that Shikamaru I see?" the pinkette giggled, pointing at a thicket of people clumped at the side.

It very effectively got rid of the other girl, who practically sprinted (you have to admire her. She was wearing 6-inch Manolo Blahniks, pink, of course) like a long-distance runner towards the crowd. "Shika-kun! Shika-kun! I see you, Shika-kun!" He wasn't there, duh, but she didn't know that yet.

This maneuver left Sakura free to catwalk up to Hinata, swishing her skirt, and ask very sweetly and politely, "May I please borrow Hinata-chan for a moment?"

Gaara looked at her rudely.

She looked at Gaara sweetly.

"O-of course, Sakura-san," Hinata said, wondering what the heck was going on.

Sakura closed her hand around Hinata's arm and pulled her away almost indecently quickly, the painted nails digging into her skin. Her boots bumped into Hinata's legs and the spurs pricked her. It was uncomfortable walking with her. So Hinata was glad when Sakura stopped outside the entrance to school, ensconcing them in a little niche behind a bush.

She looked around, curious as to why Sakura was behaving like this.

"Hello, Hinata-chan," she said in a honeyed voice, as if she had just seen her.

"Um, h-hello, Sakura-san."

"You know what I want to ask you, don't you?"

Hinata shook her head quickly to avoid having to speak (and thus, stutter). Sakura raised one perfectly plucked pink eyebrow and giggled again, humorlessly. She leaned in, so close that there was about one inch between their noses and Hinata was going cross-eyed trying to keep her in sight. A strong smell of cherry blossom surrounded Hinata. She thought she might actually gag from the too-liberally-applied scent clogging her nose.

"Oh, don't play that card," Sakura giggled flatly, the sound harsh. "Everyone can tell that you're not the innocent little Bo Peep you make out you are."

"What-!"

"You know what I'm talking about! You're after my Sasuke, aren't you? Well, let me just tell you, you can stop making eyes at him and pretending you're the sweetest little thing ever! I know you're probably screwing all your guy friends, but that doesn't mean you get to screw Sasuke too! So stop batting those big, innocent eyes at all of them and pretending you're just so sweet, Little-Miss-Perfect!"

She stopped and breathed hard. Hinata cowered away, frightened. What had Sakura meant? Screwing all her guy friends? How could she say something like that? For the first time in her life, she was honestly scared by Sakura. Hinata used to think she was just slightly airheaded but now...

The maniac shine in her green eyes was horrifying.

Sakura smiled, something inexpressibly cruel in the red, lipsticked mouth. "So listen here, Hinata fucking perfect Hyuuga, I won't let you have him."

An even bigger smile.

"Over _your_ dead body."

**A/N: I mean to portray Sakura as slightly deranged over the issue of Sasuke, with two sides to her coin. One that is sugar-sweet and cooing, and the other that has no limits to what she will do for Sasuke. So please do not criticize my portrayal as too extreme, unless you have seriously important issues you need to bring up that you think might screw over the entire story. I welcome those. Thanks! **


	5. Thank God for Sakura

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. In my wildest dreams, though, my name is Masashi Kishimoto, and I have suddenly realized that Hinata and Gaara were made for each other and I have to draw a whole new series just for them.

Chapter Five – Thank God for Sakura

"S-s-s-s-s-sakura – " Hinata stuttered miserably, legs drawn up before her. All the blood rushed from her face, leaving it drawn and white. She hugged her legs tightly, and rocked backwards childishly. "S-s-s-s-she – " she tried. She would've tried to form a coherent word again, but a couple of girls walked up the steps, almost noticing her.

"Oh my god, did you see Sakura's outfit? It's like, _so_ hot, I have to get something like that."

"I know! I don't know what it is about her that makes guys fall for her left and right. But I'll be it's because she's not innocent at all. I bet they all like her because she screws her friends behind everyone's back."

"You know, I think even Sasuke is starting to like her. Must be the way she throws herself at them, and that look she gives them."

They continued on. Hinata started thinking.

All the guys liked Sakura because she was impossibly beautiful, talented and most of all (apparently) – s-sexy. Hinata? Pft, even in her mind, she tripped over the s-word. It wasn't something Hinata Hyuuga would say. Maybe she _was_ too innocent. Was that why Naruto didn't like her that way?

xXxXx

Sakura Haruno breathed hard.

That was… so exhilarating. Getting to dump all her worries on that pale bitch, and seeing her reaction? Priceless. She bet the wrench was crying her eyes out right this moment. Maybe she was even rethinking chasing after Sasuke. As she rightly should, seeing how Sasuke was _hers_.

She walked slower now; having left the little girl a crying wreck was enough for today. Sakura was a little tired. She stepped into the school hallway, and then stopped dead. A horrible thought struck her.

What if what Sakura had told her just made her more determined? What if she went to Sasuke and showed him the nail marks on her arm (which she would definitely do, tattle-tale she was)? She knew guys didn't exactly find violent girls hot. Unless you were talking about Naruto, it didn't make a difference whether Sakura was violent to him or not, he still idolized her. That guy was hopeless.

Okay, so that may not have been the best idea ever.

Shit.

She needed to somehow patch things up with Hinata (highly doubtful), become best friends with her (impossible) and get her not to show Sasuke what she had done to her arm (no way in hell).

Sakura Haruno was in trouble.

xXxXx

Hinata heard footsteps nearing her. She wasn't sure what time it was – maybe lessons had already started. She hoped it wasn't a teacher coming to check on the soft snuffling sounds coming from behind the bushes. That would be bad. She would have to go for counseling, to say the least.

No, wait. Those were heels. A female teacher? Vice-principal Shizune?

Taking a deep breath, she tried to quiet herself. Her sobs had been kind of loud, she realized. _Crap! I have to – I have to think of a cover story! _Hinata thought hurriedly. _My dog died! _

"Hinata? You okay there?"

Hinata looked up fearfully. That was the most awful sound she had ever heard in her entire life.

Because Sakura, the person who had (very) recently abused her, was looking down at her, smiling and holding out her hand like they were best friends.

xXxXx

"I – I don't know what to say," Hinata whispered.

Sakura was actually being nice to her.

She had looked bewilderedly at the offered hand. Sakura had grabbed her, pulled her up and let her rest on her shoulder while she walked her to their first class (conveniently, they had it together). The pinkette had then spun some story and fed it to the teacher, who allowed them to visit the bathroom and 'freshen up' were the words he'd used. It was also probably Sakura's cred with the teacher that he'd just let them off without even a word of warning.

And now, she was sitting on one of the toilet seats, a 3-ply Kleenex clutched in her hand. With Sakura by her side, soft hands rubbing her back in a soothing manner.

How had this happened?

"I – I don't know what to say."

xXxXx

"Look, Hinata. I have to apologize to you for what I did just now."

"It's okay, really…" although her tone made it pretty obvious it wasn't. "I can't say I liked it, but I…" she stopped, wondering how she could put this nicely.

"I'm really sorry. I was just upset and angry that Sasuke pays you more attention than he does me. I kind of get jealous easily," Sakura admitted with a Hinata-esque blush. "I mean, I get that you guys have known each other from the crib and that he used to have this mega-crush on you – by the way, he's told me he's over that, no hard feelings – but I'm his girlfriend, right?" She smiled pointedly.

"Um…"

"So let's make up! I think we'd make really good friends, to be honest. I'd even give you a makeover, totally free of charge. I mean, no offense, you kind of need one. Badly."

"T-thanks, Sakura… You're pretty nice."

"Well, thanks too! And I'm really sorry for what I said. Hope I didn't hurt you?"

"No," Hinata lied, feeling her arm throb painfully. To distract Sakura from the pained look in her eyes, she crushed the tissue into a little ball and aimed for the wastepaper basket. Bulls-eye.

"That's pretty cool! And that's great! So I know you probably don't like me much, but I do hope we'll be friends. Great ones, in fact. I think Karin and Tayuya would really like you."

_Friends_, thought Hinata. _I suppose I could…_ Even though her gut wasn't happy with this arrangement (it was telling her 'Sakura is bad! Don't trust her!'), she had to give her a chance. Who was she to deny anyone a chance to repent?

"Sure," Hinata smiled at her. You know, that bright pink hair? It was actually a little bit therapeutic.

_Naïve wench. _

xXxXx

"So have you and your friend freshened up, Sakura?" their teacher asked when they got back to class.

"Sure, Mr. Hatake! We're all fine now."

"Great. Take your seats, we're at chapter 16. Page 256, please."

Hinata shuffled into her chair, and Gaara turned to look at her. "What happened?" he asked. "You're crying." To substantiate, he pointed to her slightly red-rimmed eyes. "I was," she corrected. "And I was wrong. Sakura's a really nice person."

"That bitch? Who are you trying to kid?"

"I… Everyone deserves a second chance, Gaara. Even you, even me. Even her."

"That's nice to know."

Before she could reply, a piece of pale pink paper folded in half with the name 'Hinata' on the top (written in dark pink) was passed to her by the person sitting to her left. "It is a most youthful declaration!" he stage-whispered, forcing it on her. She opened it, wondering who would pass messages to her in class (as if the paper and ink weren't a big enough clue).

_Hi Hinata! It's Sakura here, in case you didn't know. Just wondering, do you want to hang out this weekend? You can even bring your friend with the red hair along. Tayuya thinks he's kind of cute ;) So call me, okay? You have my number. _

_xoxo_

_Sakura_

_P.S. Please send me a reply back. _

She showed it to Gaara, almost triumphantly. "She's really trying to be nice, isn't she?"

"I'm not going."

"Please?"

"…And only because you said 'please'."

Hinata smiled again. Life was looking up. She wrote a quick reply back in her own drab dark blue ink. It was almost a pity to ruin the color scheme, but she just didn't have a pink pen.

Hi Sakura! Of course, I would love to! (: Gaara doesn't mind coming along. And yes, I do, Sasuke gave it to me when we were in grade 2 (: And thank you for being so nice to me! (: 

Love,

Hinata

After changing the name on top, she tried to get the same person to pass it back where it came from.

Obviously, practice made perfect – and Hinata just didn't pass notes often enough. The moment she'd stretched her hand out, the person put up his hand and called for Mr. Hatake. Her arm, sticking out, and the pink of the paper attracted his attention. "You there! Hand me that note."

She froze. She'd never been in a situation like this before, what was she supposed to do?

Thankfully, Sakura spoke up. "Mr. Hatake, it's not her fault, I wrote her one first. I'll read it out if you want me to."

"Delighted," he frowned, and after snatching the paper away from Hinata's hand (still in mid-air, frozen stiff), he handed it to Sakura. She cleared her throat and read it out quickly.

"It says 'Hi Hinata, I think Mr. Hatake is the best teacher ever in existence. Don't you think so? And Sasuke is hot' and then 'Hi Sakura! Yes he is, he is a great teacher!'" she said, after which she tore the paper in half and crumpled it up in her hand. Then she turned to her desk mate, who opened his mouth peremptorily. Delicately, she put the pieces into his mouth.

Naruto chewed twice in quick succession and then swallowed.

"Well, that was a lovely conversation. Please remember not to pass anymore notes describing Sasuke's hotness," Kakashi said amidst the eardrum-popping applause the class was giving Sakura.

Back in her seat, she slid down lower as Mr. Hatake turned to give her a I'm-watching-you glare.

Thank God for Sakura.

xXxXx

After school, the boy who had stuck up his hand when Hinata tried to pass him that note stayed back in class, watching everyone file out in a noisy way. Well, almost everyone.

"That was good, Lee. She would've been in really deep shit if it weren't for me," Sakura giggled to the gangly, awkward boy with the bowl cut and perfectly awful green one-piece jogging suit. "So, do you wanna collect what I owe you, honey?"

He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously. "S-Sakura… I…"

What he wanted to say was 'I love you! Always have! Your youthful beauty and sweet innocence and beautiful big green eyes have captured my heart! The flower of youth has bloomed most sweetly in you! Please, be my youthful lily!' Lee didn't normally feel embarrassed. He said what he wanted to, when he wanted to.

But this was a special case. Sakura was _lovely_. He didn't deserve her.

Trying to articulate himself, he opened his mouth. "I…" he started.

"Shh," she whispered, laying one youthful finger on his lips. And without pause, she leaned in and gave him a very gentle, albeit quick, kiss. "Youthful, aren't you," Sakura said quietly to him with sultry eyes she knew he would drown in. It was the ultimate compliment (for Lee, that is).

_She… she likes me! Sakura likes Lee! _Lee felt like shouting, while Sakura was thinking _ugh. He has no fashion sense at all. And that hairdo? It was never in season. He's so gross. Why am I doing this again? _

"Sakura Haruno! You are so beautiful! I will not presume to ask to be your boyfriend, but whatever you wish in the future, I will do! Your wish is my command!" Lee finally managed to spit out, overcoming his ardent passion. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it fervently. Her lips were too sacred for him to defile again. Plus, the hand thing? Mr. Gai had assured him it would win her heart.

Sakura smiled at him.

_Right, this was why. _

A/N: So how did you find it? You can let me know by clicking on that review button! Yay! Thanks so much (: So basically this chapter is Sakuracentric, I hope it explains her behavior a little. Moving on to Gaara in the next chapter!


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